1. Diencephalon
Won Taek Lee, M.D., Ph.D.

2. Diencephalon Thalamus  dorsal thalamus Hypothalamus pituitary gland
Epithalamus
habenular nucleus and commissure
pineal gland
Subthalamus  ventral thalamus
subthalamic nucleus (STN)
field of Forel

3. Diencephalon
dorsal surface

4. Diencephalon
ventral surface

5. Diencephalon
Medial Surface

6. THALAMUS

7. Classification of Thalamic Nuclei
I. Lateral Nuclear Group
II. Medial Nuclear Group
III. Anterior Nuclear Group
IV. Posterior Nuclear Group
V. Metathalamic Nuclear Group
VI. Intralaminar Nuclear Group
VII. Thalamic Reticular Nucleus

8. Classification of Thalamic Nuclei

9. * Distance from anterior thalamic pole
15 mm*
12 mm*
* Distance from anterior thalamic pole

10. * Distance from anterior thalamic pole
4.02 mm*
2.02 mm*
* Distance from anterior thalamic pole

11. LATERAL NUCLEAR GROUP Ventral Nuclear Group
Ventral Posterior Nucleus (VP)
ventral posterolateral nucleus
(VPL, V.c.a.e. & V.c.p.e.)
- pars oralis (VPLo, VLp)
- pars caudalis (VPLc, VPL)
ventral posteromedial nucleus (VPM)
- pars principalis (VPM, V.c.a.i. & V.c.a.e.)
- pars parvocellularis (VPMpc, V.c.pc.i., VMb)
ventral posteroinferior nucleus (VPI, V.c.pc.e)

12. LATERAL NUCLEAR GROUP Ventral Lateral Nucleus (VL)
- pars oralis (VLo, V.o.a. VLa)
- pars caudalis (VLc, V.o.p., VLp)
- pars medialis (VLm, V.o.m. & V.o.i., VMp, VM)
Ventral Anterior Nucleus (VA, L.po.)
- pars parvicellularis (VApc)
- pars magnocellularis (VAmc)

13. LATERAL NUCLEAR GROUP Ventral Nuclear Group Prefrontal SMA MI, PM SI
TTT
SNr
GPi
Cbll
ML, STT

14. LATERAL NUCLEAR GROUP Dorsal or Lateral Nuclear Group
Lateral Dorsal Nucleus (LD, D.sf.)
Lateral Posterior Nucleus (LP, D.im. & Z.im.)
Pulvinar (P, Pu.)

15. LATERAL NUCLEAR GROUP cingulate gyrus, Somesthetic precuneus
Association
Area
Visual
Association
area HF
SC, Pretectal

16. MEDIAL NUCLEAR GROUP Dorsomedial Nucleus (MD, M.)
- pars magnocellularis, MDmc)
- pars parvocellularis, MDpc)
- pars paralaminaris (MDpl;
pars multiformis, MDmf)
- pars densocellularis, MDdc)
Midline Nuclear Group
Paratenial Nucleus (Pt, Pt.)
Reunience Nucleus (Re, Edy.)
Submedial Nucleus (Sm)
Rhomboid Nucleus (Rh)

17. ANTERIOR NUCLEAR GROUP
anteroventral nucleus (AV, A.pr.)
anterodorsal nucleus (AD, A.d.)
anteromedial nucleus (AM, A.m.)
POSTERIOR NUCLEAR GROUP
suprageniculate nucleus (SG, Li.)
nucleus limitans (Lim, Li.)
posterior nucleus (PO, Li.por.)

18. MEDIAL & ANTERIOR NUCLEAR GROUP
Prefrontal
Cortex
Frontal
Eye Field
MB, HF
Medial
Frontal
Gyrus
cingulate
gyrus
Basal
forebrain
SNr, SC, RF

19. METATHALAMIC NUCLEAR GROUP
Medial Geniculate Nucleus (MG)
ventral or principal or
parvocellular nucleus (MGv)
dorsal nucleus (MGd)
medial nucleus (MGm)
Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LG)
dorsal nucleus (LGd)
ventral nucleus (LGv)

20. INTRALAMINAR NUCLEAR GROUP
Rostral Intralaminar Nuclei
central lateral nucleus, CL, i.La.)
central medial nucleus, CeM, Co.)
paracentral nucleus, PC, i.La.)
Caudal Intralaminar Nuclei
(CM-PF nuclear complex)
centre median nucleus, CM, Ce.)
parafascicular nucleus, PF, Pf.)

21. THALAMIC RETICULAR NUCLEUS Subcortical Structure
Cerebral Cortex
Thalamocortical
Neuron
Thalamic
Reticular
Nucleus
Subcortical Structure

22. Summary of Thalamic Connectivity
I. Sensory Input
general sensation
special sensation
taste, equilibrium, hearing, vision
II. Motor Input
cerebellum, basal ganglia
III. Reticular Formation
IV. Limbic System
mammillary nucleus
hippocampal formation

23. Sensory Input (1) General Sensation 1. Medial lemniscus
VPLc S I, S II
2. Spinothalamic tract
VPLc S I, S II
POm retroinsular cortex
Sm frontal lobe(?)
CL diffuse cortical areas
3. Trigeminothalamic tract
VPM S I, S II

24. Sensory Input (2) Taste sensation
VPM pc gustatory area (Brodmann area 43)
(3) Sense of equilibrium
VPLo S I
(4) Auditory sensation
MGv A I (Brodmann area 41, 42)
MGd A II
(5) Vision
LGd V I (Brodmann area 17)
Pi, Pl V I, V II (Brodmann area 17, 18, 19)

25. Motor Input (1) Cerebellum (2) Basal ganglia
VLc, VPLo, Nucleus X (cell sparse zone)
M I (Brodmann area 4), Premotor area
CL diffuse cortical areas
(2) Basal ganglia
1. GPi (internal segment of globus pallidus)
VLo SMA (supplementary motor area)
VApc frontal cortex
CM diffuse cortical areas, striatum,
subthalamic nucleus
2. SNr (pars reticularis of substantia nigra)
VLm, VAmc - fronal cortex
MDpc medial frontal cortex
MDpl frontal eye field (Brodmann area 8)

26. Reticular Formation & Limbic System
rostral intralaminar nuclei (CL, Cem, PC), Rh
----- diffuse cortical areas
thalamic reticular nucleus (R), LGv
----- adjacent thalamic nucleus
Limbic System
Mammillary Body
AV, AD, AM cingulate gyrus
Hippocampal Formation
LD cingulate gyrus, precuneus
Re medial cortex, entorhinal cortex

27. Clinical Syndromes of the Thalamus
Posterolateral thalamic syndromes
sensory disorders
Thalamic (Dejerine-Roussy) syndrome
----- VP nucleus - pain
Medial thalamic syndromes
disorders of consciousness
thalamic neglect, thalamic amnesia,
akinetic mutism
Anterolateral thalamic syndromes
motor disorders
paresis, ataxia, motor incoordination, dysphagia

28. Thalamic (Dejerine-Roussy) Syndrome
Joseph Jules Dejerine
( )
Gustave Roussy
( )

29. Visual (Optic) Pathway
Modality: Vision
Receptor: Photoreceptor Cell of Retina
Cranial Nerve: II (Optic nerve)
1st Neuron: Bipolar Cell
2nd Neuron: Ganglion Cell
optic nerve
optic chiasm
optic tract
3rd Neuron: Lateral Geniculate Nucleus
optic radiation
Termination: Visual Areas (V I, V II)
Brodmann area 17 (V I), 18, 19 (V II)

30. RETINA - Pars Nervosa 1. Pigment Epithelium - retinal detachment
2. Neuronal Layer
(1) Photosensitive Cell Layer
Rod Cell, Cone Cell
(2) Bipolar Cell Layer
Bipolar Cell
Horizontal Cell
Amacrine Cell
(3) Ganglion Cell Layer
Ganglion Cell
Optic Nerve (II)

31. Visual Pathway 1. Optic nerve 2. Optic chiasm 3. Optic tract
4. Lateral
geniculate
body
5. Optic radiation
6. Visual cortex

32. Visual (Optic) Pathway

33. Visual Pathway Lateral Geniculate Nucleus (LGd)
dorsolateral
Dorsal Nucleus (LGd)
Magnocellular Part
1, 2
Parvocellular Part
3, 4, 5, 6
contralateral afferents
1, 4, 6
ipsilateral afferents
2, 3, 5
Ventral Nucleus (LGv)
part of thalamic
reticular nucleus
ventromedial

34. Optic Radiation (Geniculocalcarine Tract)
Meyer’s loop

35. Clinical Features of Visual Pathway Lesion
1. optic nerve
2. optic chiasm
3. optic tract
4. 5. optic radiation
A. unilateral blindness
B. bitemporal hemianopsia
C. left homonymous
hemianopsia
D. left inferior homony-
mous quadranopsia
E. left superior homony-

36. Signs of Visual Pathway Lesion
Optic nerve
- ipsilateral blindness
Optic chiasm
- bitemporal hemianopsia
Optic tract
- contralateral homonymous hemianopsia
Optic radiation
- contralateral homonymous quadranopsia
- intact light reflex
Visual Cortex
- macular sparing

37. left inferior optic radiation lesion right superior quadranopsia
Visual Field Defect
left inferior optic radiation lesion
right superior quadranopsia

38. Hypothalamus  Limbic System

39. Epithalamus  Limbic System
Habenular Nucleus
Medial Habenular Nucleus
Lateral Habenular Nucleus
Habenular Commissure
Pineal Gland

40. Subthalamus  Basal Ganglia
Subthalamic nucleus
zona incerta
Field of Forel
H ansa lenticularis
H1 thalamic fasciculus
H2 lenticular fasciculus